“Well, it’s not the cop,” Scorpio mumbled to Zodiac, turning away from me. “Do you think he could be Artillery?”
I busied myself by clearing off a table nearby, staying close enough to hear, but not enough to look like I was eavesdropping.
“Maybe, but he looks more powerful than someone in the Artillery. I’m gonna go talk to him. You stay back for a moment with Cap and Pollux. I’ll head on over there with Archer, Bull, and Castor.”
“Damn it, why can’t I go?” Pollux whined.
“Because if you get within three feet of a naked woman, you turn into a blubbering idiot, Pollux. We’re doing the girls a favor by keeping you away,” Scorpio joked. Yeah, he seemed a lot lighter than the last time I saw him at the bar. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, or he found someone to ease the pain he was concealing inside.
“Yeah, well, at least I’m not going psycho on everyone just because someone had the balls to steal your bike at the rally.”
My hand stilled as I went to pick up a glass on the table.Did he just say what I think he said?
“Like I had control over someone jacking my dad’s bike. You were supposed to catch the guy, and you didn’t.”
Shit! They weren’t talking about me, were they? Was the bike I stole really Scorpio’s?I knew that Castor and Pollux were the ones chasing me down, but I thought it was just because I stole someone’s bike at the rally, not that it was an actual member’s ride.
“Yeah, sorry about that, Scorpio. I’m sure we’ll find the person responsible for stealing your bike, and when we do, we’ll make them fucking pay.” He started punching his fist into his hand, making Scorpio laugh.
That’s when everything hit me hard.
I fucking stole Scorpio’s bike! It made so much sense now. Why the Hell’s Artillery had to have me do it instead of one of their own. Why they had no intention of releasing my sister. They were behind everything and now the men who had gone out of their way to help me had no idea that they had a rat living right under their noses. Me. I was the rat.
Everything in my hands came crashing down, the glasses shattering into a bazillion pieces. Their heads turned to look my way, and I watched Scorpio’s hardened eyes soften as he knelt down beside me.
“Hey, man, you okay?”
“I’m fine, just dropped something I shouldn’t have,” I said quickly, trying to suppress all the guilt that was suddenly attacking me full force. If I had known that the bike belonged to Scorpio, I would’ve never stolen it.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just a glass. We got plenty more. The broom and dustpan are over there and once we get it cleaned up; no one will ever know you dropped it.” He shot me a friendly smile, and my guilt got even deeper.
“Um… thanks…” I mumbled, my conscience rearing its ugly head. I had to tell him I was responsible for the bike; it was the right thing to do. “Hey, Scorpio… I…”
But before I could get another word out, a large commotion came from the other side of the room, turning his attention away from me. “Fuck, kid, I’m sorry. I gotta go.” He raced across the room, joining Zodiac and the other guys.
There was nothing worse than living with a guilty conscience, and I knew that the only way to make it go away was to right the wrong I committed, come clean to Scorpio and the rest of the Celestial Sons, and accept my fate.
But there was a serious problem with that plan. In order to right my wrong, I would have to contact my sister and try to see if she knew where the bike was. That would put her in danger, and that’s something I didn’t want to do knowing how much trouble she was already in.
The fact of the matter was, Joey was my only hope at staying in the Celestial Sons’ good graces. If I could get back Scorpio’s bike, then maybe they wouldn’t kill me for taking it. But I didn’t know if my sister would even help me. The sad part was, I had this sinking suspicion that she was too far gone, and the only way to get the bike back would be to get Joey out, too.
That meant I had to come clean and hope that the Celestial Sons MC would forgive me and help save my sister despite the cardinal sin I had committed behind their backs that betrayed them all.
Chapter Twenty
It took me almost two weeks to get up the courage to finally contact my sister. A lot of shit had been going on with the Celestial Sons. Shit I wasn’t privy to. I wasn’t a member, and I definitely wasn’t a prospect, so all I knew was what I saw with my own two eyes and what I overheard.
But living with all this guilt I had wasn’t easy, and I knew that it was time to fix the mistake I made and try to get back the bike for Scorpio. After everything he’s been through the last few weeks, it was the least I could do for him. I mean, he did take me in and give me a job like no one ever had.
I took a deep breath, staring at my sister’s number with great scrutiny. I wasn’t sure if I should involve her in this, but I knew I had to right the wrong I committed. Had I known what I do now about the Celestial Sons, I would’ve never taken the bike. I would’ve found some other way to barter for Joey. But here I was, knee deep in a pile of shit, just trying to figure out a way to make things right. The only way I could do that is to steal the bike back from Beretta, but I needed to know if the bastard still had it.
Before I could send the text, there was a soft knock on my door right before it swung open.
“You okay?” Sienna’s sweet voice asked from the doorway.
“Yes… and no.”
“Can I come in?” It was the first time Sienna had tried to talk to me since that day she pulled Odessa off me. It wasn’t because she was avoiding me or anything, it had to do more with all the chaos surrounding the club. Somehow, they’d figured out who killed Brooklyn, and got into some kind of entanglement with the Italian mob in the last two weeks. Everything sounded like a movie plot, but this was real life, and Castor and Zodiac had the bullet holes in their bodies to prove it. Both were okay, and I still had no clue how either of them ended up getting shot. Not that any of it was my business. I just kept my nose to the ground and worked in the background, doing my best to hold in my secret the best I could.
